INTRODUCTION
In our journey through life, we come across so many ups and downs. We encounter various challenges and difficulties in our life. Due to this, we start taking so much load & stress in our life and after a period, it starts taking a toll on our physical and mental well-being. In simple words, it starts affecting our overall well-being.
So, to deal with this suffering and help in improving our mental well-being, many psychologists’ researchers, and experts have done vigorous research. They have provided us with some effective tools and techniques which helps us to navigate through the hardships and setbacks in our life. One such approach is called as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy; it is also generally known as CBT in shorter form.
WHAT IS COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY?
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is based upon cognitive model, it says that what we think, how we feel, and how we behave, all interact with each other. It states that our thoughts, beliefs, and interpretations of events significantly influence our emotions and behaviors. According to CBT, our unhelpful or faulty way of thinking lead us to more problems and difficulties in our life. As the problem arises, our mind gets more clogged with negative thought patterns. In order to deal with difficulties, cognitive behavioural therapy empowers us to identify, understand and manage our thoughts, emotions, and behaviours via cognitive and behavioural strategies.
Generally, CBT is conducted with a therapist but there are some self-help techniques of CBT which we can practice on our own. In this blog, we will explore some CBT self-help techniques that can serve as valuable resources that may help us grow and improve our overall well-being. So, embrace these techniques as your own, tailor them to your needs, and embark on a transformative journey toward self-discovery and growth
1. JOURNALING YOUR THOUGHTS
Maintaining a thought journal every day is a powerful self-help tool in CBT, it may help you to self-reflect and self-discover. So, every day, set aside a few minutes and write down your all thoughts that are coming into your mind and how you are feeling about the situation. By journaling and reflecting upon the events, negative thoughts, and emotions, will help you gain insight into repetitive intrusive thought patterns, identifying what is triggering those thoughts, and how it is making you feel and it may also help you to restructure those thoughts or look at things from different angles/perspective.
2. IDENTIFYING NEGATIVE THOUGHT PATTERNS
By journaling your thoughts and practicing mindfulness, it may help you to become aware and identify your negative thoughts, the patterns, and how those thought patterns are affecting you in day-to-day life. It may help you to get some clarity and clear the mind clogged with intrusive thoughts. It may help also you to look at things from a broader perspective than the narrow ones. So, practice mindfulness or meditation, it will help you to observe your thoughts and how it is creating an impact on emotions (how you feel) and behaviour (how you act) in stressful times. Whenever you notice any negative thoughts write them down and try to reframe those thoughts into more realistic and constructive ones.
3. COGNITIVE RESTRUCTURING
Cognitive restructuring is a powerful tool that will help you to identify and restructure negative thoughts into more balanced and rational thoughts. So, to reframe the thoughts, you need to evaluate the accuracy of the thoughts. This could be done by challenging those thoughts such as looking for the evidence in favor of your thoughts and against your thoughts, doing a cost-benefit analysis of your thoughts (what are the costs of holding onto these thoughts and what are the benefits of holding onto this thoughts), is this thought a fact or assumptions. In these ways, you will get help to look at the picture from a broader perspective.
4. DEVELOP COPING STRATEGIES
It is essential to develop or have some healthy and adaptive coping strategies which you can use to calm yourself down at times of stressful situations. So, to do that you need to identify healthy and adaptive ways to deal with such situations such as engaging in relaxation techniques like deep breathing exercises such as inhaling for 3 counts, holding the breath for 3 counts and exhaling in 3 counts and repeating it for a couple of times to calm your senses and yourselves down, you may also engage into progressive muscle relaxation, or meditation where you simply pay attention on your breath and letting go all the thoughts without any evaluation (good or bad). Doing some physical exercise and having nutritious foods may also help you in improving your mood, health, and in turn, it will also improve your overall well-being.
5. BEHAVIOURAL ACTIVATION
Behavioural activation involves engaging in pleasurable and meaningful activities to counteract negative emotions and increase positive experiences. Make a list of activities you enjoy or used to enjoy but have stopped doing. Start incorporating them back into your routine, even if you do not feel motivated at first. Gradually increase the frequency and duration of these activities, as they can have a significant impact on your overall well-being
GETTING HELP…
If you need more help and want to take a step ahead towards a healthier body and mind, we are ready to walk and help you throughout your journey of healthier wellbeing. We have a team of skilled and compassionate psychologists, psychiatrists and nutritionists at LetsGetHappi app which is managed by Veda Wellness Centre. You can book an online as well as offline appointment via LetsGetHappi and embark your transformative journey with us.
We are here for you…
Author,
Chandrakumar.H. Upadhyay,
Counselling Psychologist,
LetsGetHappi.